Archives Agency: SEC Was Wrong to Destroy Probe Files

By
Jenny Strasburg

August 19, 2011

The federal government's archives agency said Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Commission improperly destroyed documents related to enforcement inquiries, and the regulator has been "slow" in following guidelines for what records must be retained.

The SEC "did not have authority to dispose of them per the Federal Records Act," the National Archives and Records Administration said Thursday in a statement, referring to files connected with SEC "matters under inquiry," or MUIs. These are...